Prank Gone Wrong
by What'sMyMotivation
Summary: So this started out as a sort of one shot where Zero got mad at Lea because she dyed his hair black for a prank, but that idea got violently thrown away and then all this happened but I like it, so give it a read if you don't mind the utter OOC and Crack!Fiction that's everywhere. Pairings are Zero OC and Aido OC. T for swearing that pops up occasionally
1. Chapter 1

**Sorry! I'm a bad person! I had to re-upload stuff because I saw some rather embarrassing errors that I had to fix for the sake of my sanity.**

**So, take two. I do not own Vampire Knight or any of it's characters, I only claim Lea and the plot. Isabel is my BFF's OC and she has given me permission to control her character for this story for all of your enjoyment.**

* * *

Leanna Wilson squatted outside the door to the boys' showers and tried her best to not laugh too loudly. Any random passerby would think her to be either a creep, pervert or slightly insane. Anyone who knew Lea and passed by her now would probably just raise an eyebrow and kept walking. However, if Isabel or either of Lea's brothers had seen her now they'd either sit with her and ask to be let in on the joke or go run to check their stuff for booby-traps.

Lea froze and listened intently. A soap bottle fell to the floor and someone started screaming. A mischievous grin on her face, Lea quickly darted downstairs to the main lobby and tried to act casual.

She'd just taken a seat next to her best friend, Isabel Jones, and picked up her book when Hanabusa Aido hurried down the stairs. Dripping wet and a towel tightly wrapped around his waist, Aido looked positively livid.

"Who's responsible?!" He roared.

Lea didn't look up, keeping her eyes on the book and her face controlled. "For what? The water tracked all over the floor? Because I'm pretty sure that that was you."

Aido wasn't having any of Lea's lip. To him this was important.

Isabel looked up at him and gasped out a laugh. "Hana, what happened to your hair?!"

"That's what I'm _trying_ to figure out!" He growled.

Lea finally looked up at him and immediately started laughing so hard she almost fell off of the couch. She tried to speak around the bouts of laughter. "I didn't **HAHAHA! **Think it would **HAHA!**Work so **HAHA!**Well! **HAHAHAHAHA!**"

Aido's hair was bright orange.

"You-! How did you-?! What?! Why-!?" He seemed to be having trouble forming full, coherent sentences.

Lea started to explain, having finally calmed down enough to speak, but just as she said the first word Takuma Ichijo walked down the stairs.

Ichijo had a lock of his newly pink hair twisted around a finger. "It's a good thing that pink looks good on me."

Lea was now on the floor, holding her sides.

Isabel's eyes widened. "How many people did you get?"

Lea wiped a tear from her eye and tried to look innocent. "Well, first I put black dye in my conditioner –someone keeps stealing it– but then I thought it would be funny to put some of my leftover temporary Halloween hair dyes in the boys' conditioners. I didn't know whose was whose though." She looked at Takuma. "Why am I not surprised that the strawberry-scented one was yours?"

Ichijo shrugged. "Just call me 'Ichigo'." He winked and left to finish getting ready for classes.

Lea smiled and turned back to her book. "You know, Hanabusa, you should go get dressed before I report you for exhibition and sexual harassment."

Aido's eyes narrowed. "Fine, but don't think I won't get you for this." He angrily pointed at his hair and then stormed upstairs to get dressed.

Still looking at her book, Lea spoke to Isabel. "You can nosebleed freely now."

Isabel spluttered and nearly choked on the water she'd been drinking. "What?!"

Lea rolled her eyes and elbowed Isabel. "Isa, don't think that I didn't notice. You were practically drooling over Hanabusa and all his 'towel-clad glory.'" She said, putting air-quotations around the last few words with her fingers.

Isabel began to vehemently deny this but the blush that stained her cheeks told another story.

"Iz, you're a terrible liar." Lea said, smiling cheekily.

Any further conversation was cut off by Zero Kiryu's rather melodramatic entrance into the lobby area. "Who did this?!" he shouted, flailing his arms.

Lea blushed for multiple reasons: first, she's had a crush on Zero since the beginning of the school year but has only managed to become fairly good friends with him; second, Zero wasn't completely dressed –his shirt was unbuttoned and his hair was still slightly damp; lastly, Zero's hair was dyed black and it was _very _attractive. But that also meant that _Zero _was the one who kept stealing her conditioner.

Isabel smiled, both at Zero's black hair and at Lea's blush. Sometimes it was good to be the one who knew all the gossip.

"Good evening, Kiryu. New hairstyle?"

Zero glared. "No! Someone put dye into my conditioner!" he looked at Lea. "Aido said you might know who?"

Lea's blush intensified; any brighter and it would match her wine-red hair. How on Earth was she supposed to her friend/crush that she was the reason his hair is now black? Well, it didn't look like she had much choice in the matter now. Fingers crossed he won't be pissed.

"I-ah... that is... well..." Lea stammered. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I did."

Zero had that is-that-all-or-is-there-more? expression on his face. When Lea didn't continue he decided she needed some prompting.

"You did... what?"

"Ah... I put the dye in the conditioner."

Zero's jaw dropped with a nearly-audible 'pop' in surprise. As his brain tried to process this, one could see the anger emerging in his expression.

"**Why?!**"

Lea's lip pouted in an almost automatic defensive/ maybe-if-I-look-cute-he- won't-get-as-mad sort of way. "Someone kept stealing my conditioner! It was the only way I could think of to figure out who did it!"

Isabel snickered. "So Zero conditions?Zero conditions with Lea's conditioner. Zero conditions with Lea's stolen conditioner."

"Are you going to keep repeating that!?" Zero snapped.

Isabel started sing-songing. "Zero steals conditioner! Zero stole Lea's conditioner!" If her grin got any bigger it would risk splitting her face in two.

During this Lea was watching Zero's face; if she hadn't known better she would have said that Zero's cheeks were pink, but is they were then that would mean Zero was embarrassed. Why? For stealing? For conditioning?

Shut up! Zero roared, perhaps a bit too loudly.

_No_. Lea thought. _His face is just flushed because he's mad._Inside Lea felt sort of resigned, as if she'd given up on Zero ever really showing any special feelings towards her. Besides irritation, that is; Zero always seemed to be irritated at Lea for some reason or another. Lea let her shoulders droop and she sighed, heading upstairs for bed. Just because she lived in the Moon dorm didn't mean that she was a part of the Night Class. Oh no, Lea was too stupid for the Night Class curriculum and she knew it.

Meanwhile, Zero had finally managed to shut Isabel up...

"So why are you stealing Lea's conditioner?"

Mostly.

It was because of circumstances like this that made Zero glad he wasn't an easy blusher, not that he ever got caught up in stuff like this. The majority of the Day Class girls were too busy fawning over Night Class students like Takuma Ichijo and Hanabusa Aido to bother with him and the maybe 2% that weren't obsessed with the Night Class were too scared of him to try and interact with him. And Zero hadn't cared; most of the girls were irritating and too high-pitched for Zero's taste.

That is, until Lea Wilson had transferred to Cross Academy and gotten herself landed in Zero's year, most of his classes and his head. It had taken him nearly four weeks and a lengthy intervention from Ichijo and Aido for him to figure out why he couldn't stop thinking about the short, pale redhead whose head barely reached his shoulder. He was infatuated, such a ridiculous word for the equally ridiculous ideas in his head. Realistically, Lea was only making his job all the more difficult by moving into the Moon Dorm with her vampire best friend after a tiresome discussion with Headmaster Cross that revealed that Lea had known about vampires before coming to Cross Academy, having been friends with Isabel since the seventh grade, therefore landing Zero with a whole new set of rounds to add to his shift at night. But none of this excused nor explained his completely unreasonable urge to grab hold of the frail girl and hold her, both to keep her as safe as possible and just for the sake of holding her close and feeling her warm body and to smell her soft-

"Yoo-hoo! Zero! Earth to space cadet!" Isabel spoke loudly, waving her hand in front of Zero's face.

Zero started and shook his head, clearing it of its absurd notions, and brought himself back to the present.

"What?" He snapped, irritated at himself for spacing out. He'd been doing that more and more recently, once he'd figured out why he kept obsessing about Lea. Another head shake. _Focus, idiot!_

Isabel raised an eyebrow at him. "Thinking of a certain redhead that you somehow managed to upset? Again."

Zero gave a confused "What?" and looked around, surprised to see Lea retreating upstairs.

"Tut-tut." clucked Isabel, shaking her head and wagging a finger at Zero. "If you think that stealing her stuff, being so rude and then brushing her off is going to 'win you her heart' then you are sadly mistaken."

"I didn't steal it!" Zero protested to Isabel's disbelieving expression. "Well... not at first, I mean."

Isabel rolled her eyes. "Explain, before I take matters into my own hands."

Zero growled but obliged. "It was a dare, I suppose. Somehow Aido and I started talking about how he's always so prissy about how he looks and it ended in me getting dared to condition my hair but for some reason he wouldn't just let me use his or Ichijo's."

"So you stole Lea's?" guessed Isabel.

"Borrowed. And I didn't know it was hers at first. It took me awhile until I recognized the scent."

"And now you 'borrow' her conditioner every week?"

"No, I only borrowed it twice: once for the dare and again so I could get the brand. Aido actually was the one who kept stealing it just to see what would happen." Zero shrugged. "I suppose he was a bit bored."

"So then how'd your hair turn black?"

"That was me."

Zero and Isabel turned to see a fully-dressed Aido come down the stairs.

Aido continued. "I overheard Lea tell you, Isabel, that she was going to put dye in her conditioner so I continued the joke and switched it with Zero's conditioner." Aido had that self-satisfied smirk on his face and it kinda pissed Zero off.

"And karma was swift, I see." remarked Isabel playfully, nodding towards Aido's new hair color. The smirk quickly disappeared and Aido left, grumbling about pranks and gingers.

Zero smirked at Aido's back and would have left for his guard rounds if something Isabel had said hadn't finally registered in his mind.

"What did you mean 'again'?" Zero's eyebrows pulled together in concentration, trying to understand what she meant.

"Huh?" said Isabel, dazed. Apparently it had been her turn to space out since she'd been all dreamy-eyed in Aido's direction.

"You said that I had upset Lea again, but I don't see why she would be upset now nor how I may have upset her previously." Zero had always tried to be at least a gentleman around her. It was quite possible that Lea was the only person he was constantly decent to.

Isabel had on her you've-gotta-be-kidding-me face on. "You mean you seriously haven't noticed? I thought having a crush on someone made you 10x more aware of that person."

"You mean like you around Aido?" Zero asked absentmindedly, still struggling to figure out how he could have upset Lea. Women! Why did they have to be so complicated?!

Isabel blushed. "N-no! Shaddup, it's not like that!"

Zero scowled. "Then what are you trying to say!? Spit it out!"

Isabel sighed. "Remember when you and Lea got partnered for the English project a few weeks ago?" Zero nodded. "That was one."

"How?!" Zero demanded. He was positive that he'd been polite, albeit a little distracted -Lea had worn her long hair up and had a choker around her neck; very inviting, very cute and very very not good for Zero.

"You barely spoke to her! And then you did the entire project by yourself and didn't even let her in on it, let alone help!"

"I needed something to focus on." was Zero's brilliant argument.

Another raised eyebrow from Isabel nearly had Zero growling again. This girl gave him more attitude than Yuki and Aido and if she didn't stop soon... let's just say it won't be pretty.

"What about when you two were talking about Chemistry and you offered to tutor her?"

Zero was confused again. "That upset her?"

"You said she could meet with you and Yuki."

"So?" Zero and Yuki always met in the quietest part of the library or in the Headmaster's chambers. Yuki often got distracted and left after about an hour of not paying attention and would have left Lea and himself alone together. Perfect.

Isabel gave Zero the you're-kidding-me face again.

What was with all the cryptic-ness lately? If there was a point Isabel was getting at, she wasn't getting at it fast enough. "Isabel what are you not telling me? Because obviously there's something that you know that's making all of this make sense that I don't know."

Isabel gave him a mysterious smile. "That's for me to know and you to find out." She held up her finger, silencing Zero's protests. "However, you won't find out unless you stop upsetting Lea."

He glared. "I still don't know how I keep upsetting her; I didn't even know I had been upsetting her."

"Just pay attention to her. Make her smile, laugh at her jokes, maybe take a look at her sketchbook. You'll get where you want to be."

Zero half smiled. "I'm fine with where I am, it's Lea who's in the wrong place."

"And where should she be?"

Zero spread his arms, as if to offer a hug. "Where do you guess?"

Isabel shook her head. "You're doomed."

Zero smiled softly and started walking out. "Trust me, I know."


	2. Chapter 2

****** I still do not own Vampire Knight or any of it's characters, I only claim Lea and the plot. Isabel is my BFF's OC and she has given me permission to control her character for this story for all of your enjoyment.**

* * *

Lea hated History class. Hated, hated, hated it. She's heard the 'those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it' lecture but if everyone got along then what did it matter? Anyway, the only reason that Lea put that class in her top 3 was because she sat rather close to Zero and today the one person who sat between them was out sick.

The only bad thing about this was that Lea kept getting distracted. Class was little more than ¾ over and she had caught herself staring 3 times, spaced out 5 times, and fallen asleep 4; although that last figure wasn't because of Zero.

But it did seem that Zero had taken a leaf out of her book and fallen asleep.

_He's so adorable!_Lea squealed mentally, focusing on Zero completely for the 4th time.

Meanwhile the teacher was still talking. "All right, that's all for today. Stay quiet until the bell rings."

Lea chewed on her lip for a moment then nodded to herself. After a bit of digging through her bag she pulled out a sketchbook. Lea always loved drawing but if anyone ever asked what she was working on all they would get would be a blush and a stammered excuse to leave. It wasn't anything bad exactly, but the answer would reveal a few things she wasn't quite ready to have answered.

Lea studied Zero's face as she searched for her page. _It's a shame his eyes aren't open_. She thought. _Better than nothing, I suppose._And with that, Lea began sketching.

It didn't take long for Lea to become totally engrossed with both the drawing and the daydream that went with it. For once Lea wasn't completely focused on Zero -at least, not the real, flesh and blood Zero- and didn't notice that his eyes had opened and focused on her.

Moving quietly, Zero scooted closer and took a peek over Lea's shoulder to see what she was so focused on. What he didn't expect was to see a half-colored picture of... himself?... and Lea. Lea seemed to be leaning out of some sort of old phone booth and was wearing a leather jacked and a deep green tee-shirt that barely covered her stomach. The Zero in the picture was wearing a dark blue suit that almost matched the seemingly weather-worn phone booth. He stood next to Lea outside the door and had an almost cheeky grin on his face. Zero, the real one, could see that his drawing version held what looked like a silver and blue version of his Bloody Rose gun in his left hand.

"Wow." Zero said quietly.

Lea squeaked, surprised, in response to his low voice in her ear. She quickly slammed shut her sketchbook, face red with embarrassment.

Zero was also surprised, he hadn't thought that Lea would be so jumpy. It was almost as if she was nervous around him. _Why is that?_He wondered.

"No need to hide it, it looked cool." Zero spoke gently, trying not to startle her again. "I didn't know you are an art student."

"I'm not." Lea's voice was fluttery and a little higher pitched than usual. Normally she and Zero only ever spoke when she initiated the conversation, albeit after roughly seven minutes of nerve gathering and three of planning of what to say.

Zero looked confused so Lea, in a slightly more normal voice, explained. "I don't take the art classes here. I just doodle in my spare time."

Comprehension relaxed Zero's features and he slightly extended a hand towards her sketchbook. "May I see?"

Lea unconsciously held the book tighter. If he saw then she'd have to explain why he was on pretty much every page. If she explained then she may as well confess that she's had a crush on him for months. No way in Hell, Heaven or in between was she ready for that heart attack. She silently shook her head 'no.'

Zero pouted -Pouted!- and gave Lea such a sad puppy dog look that almost had her handing over the sketchbook. Almost, but not quite.

Lea held on tighter. "Nuh-uh. No way." She shook her head again for emphasis.

The pout increased. _Damn!_Thought Lea. _That look should be a certified weapon! ...I am so doomed._

"What's so bad that I can't see?" asked Zero, replacing the pout with a playful grin. "You're not drawing anything M rated, are you?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Lea laughed and smacked his shoulder. "Only a few bloody cartoons of Kaname beaten to a pulp."

Zero's eyebrows raised, grin still in place. "What happened to him?"

"Fangirl stampede. He was in the way of one of Aido's 'model moments' and couldn't get out of the way fast enough."

Zero laughed aloud. "That would be a sight to see."

"And entirely likely to happen too, provided Yuki doesn't try to protect him." said Lea, mentally rejoicing. _I made him laugh! I made Zero laugh!_So completely doomed.

"True, true." Zero said thoughtfully, then smiled.

Lea's heart felt like it was going to stop, she was so mesmerized by that smile. To be completely truthful that was probably the first time Zero had truly smiled at her. Lea probably smiled back at him but she wasn't too sure, she was too busy memorizing Zero's face, probably for the 20th time but for the first time up close and with a smile on his face.

Zero, being the cunning bastard he sometimes was, decided to take advantage of Lea's distraction and quickly snatch the sketchbook from the grasp of her loosened fingers.

"Wha-? Hey!" The theft of her sketchbook slowly awoke Lea from her stupor. She lurched towards Zero as he went to gather his things; he'd already packed away the book before she even reached him.

The bell rang and Zero swung his bag over his shoulder, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "You can have this back later." And with that he left for his advanced Chemistry class.

Lea growled but didn't pursue him. She knew that it was useless; Zero's Chem class was on the opposite end of the school from her German lesson. So, with a snarl that wouldn't sound out-of-place in a zoo, Lea stalked to her next class, already planning on how to get her book back. She knew that Zero's Chem teacher was very strict on the whole 'No Distractions' hoorah so Zero shouldn't have a chance to take a look then. After that, Lea has a study hall and normally passes Zero in the halls, provided he takes his usual route, so she should be able to get him before bell.

Lea took a deep breath and began to plan.

* * *

Zero smiled as he quickly worked on the day's lab so he could get a start on Lea's sketchbook. So far he'd been lucky: Mr. Okazaki was taking a sick day so they had a substitute who's only instruction was to give them an easy review lab on acids and bases so they had the leftover time for themselves. Another stroke of luck was when they were told to work individually; Zero didn't have anyone to slow him down.

He stood and went to place the worksheet on the teacher's desk, checking the clock as he did. 10 minutes into class, leaving over half an hour for Zero to go through the stolen sketchbook.

Zero sat back down and started slowly flipping through the book. The first page was an almost lifelike drawing of a tree with 'Leanna Morrisan-Wilson' carved into it.

_Morrisan-Wilson? _thought Zero, slightly confused. _Morrisan?Her mother's maiden name, perhaps?_He'd have to ask about that later.

After that was a fold-out page with photo collages of Isabel, Aido, Ichijo, and Zero. He smiled slightly at this, not remembering Lea ever taking these pictures. _My sly little fox_. He thought fondly, not noticing the accidental/unintentional possessive in the sentence.

It continued in this fashion until Zero was roughly 20 pages in and suddenly he found himself to be the main theme of all the drawings.

One page was full of sketches of Zero's tattoo on his _neck. Observant._Zero thought as he traced a finger along the pencil lines.

A painting, collage and several sketches later Zero was surprised to see an additional face.

Lea, grinning in her sugar-hyped way, was clinging to Zero arm. She was obviously laughing at something and apparently so was Zero: he had a small smile and was looking at Lea with a surprisingly unguarded expression.

Zero, the real one still in Chemistry class, leaned in close to the picture trying to remember when this could have been taken. None of them were in their uniform and, as he looked over Lea's skinny jeans and long sweater, was surprised to realize that this was from this past Winter break when Isabel had snuck up behind Kain and managed to shove a fistful of snow and ice down his shirt, causing him to start jumping about and squealing like some toddler who just realized what 'cold' was.

Zero smiled at the memory, eyes still lingering on the picture-Lea, enjoying the change from the black school uniform that the Day Class students were required to wear. Lea's jeans and combat boots were snug on her legs and the long scarf - her 'Four Scarf', she'd once called it - was wrapped around her neck. _Inviting_. Thought Zero.

He'd never really been able to explain to Isabel why he always described Lea as 'inviting.' Ever since Lea had started wearing small necklaces, mostly chokers, Zero found that it had become harder and harder to look away from her neck. Now, for a normal person that wouldn't be such a big deal, but since Zero was also a vampire it made things slightly more dangerous. What normally starts out as an appreciation oftentimes ended up becoming a hungry stare when his vampire instincts force him to zero in on Lea's gentle pulse therefore making it a helluva lot harder to hold a normal and casual conversation with her when she starts bouncing around all happy about everything.

So yeah, Zero thinks Lea's inviting. Her happy attitude invites you to want to talk to her; her personality is inviting to want to stay with her and staying with her tends to make you notice some of the more subtle things about her: how long she is even though she barely reaches 5'2", how her wine-red hair often ends up falling over her shoulders no matter how she styles it, and how she smells. Isabel was the one who was able to pin down what exactly it was she smelled like: caramel and leather, Lea's favorite shampoo and her favorite half-jacket that she wears at every chance she gets.

The bell rang, yanking Zero out of his daze. Looking down he saw that while he'd been thinking Zero had taken the page out of the sketchbook and had been in the process of putting it in his folder.

Zero growled and stuffed the paper away, quickly packed everything up and stalked out to his English class, all the while growling at himself in his thoughts:

_I'm turning into that damned Cullen character that Isabel had made fun of. _He snorted. _Obsessive about the new girl, only ever interacting with her. Freaking out over holding her and how she smells... _Technically Isabel had only made fun of the main girl and her boyfriend but Zero had also seen Lea reading it and so he decided to give it a try. Not overly horrible, but not really deserving of all the attention it got; Zero had had to force himself to finish it so he at least had a conversation topic for if he ever really spoke to Lea.

The sudden feeling of someone's arms wrapping tightly around Zero's waist startled him out of his thoughts and, before he had the chance to think, Zero's hunter's instincts kicked in and he wrestled his way out of whoever's arms and and forcefully thrown them away and against the opposite wall. By the time Zero's mind caught up with his actions he found himself to be staring into the absolute last pair of eyes that he ever wanted to see in this situation.

Lea Wilson's dark chocolate eyes stared at Zero; waves of hurt, confusion, and sadness were obvious and all-consuming leaving no trace of the happy light that had always been there.

There was a tense silence that filled the hallway and the few straggling students' eyes were wide as well. Sure Zero was tough and angry and physical with the Night Class students, but he'd never done anything really harmful to the Day Class and seeing him just throw the new girl out of nowhere... well, it was pretty alarming.

As the accusations and whispers began filling the hallway Zero stayed focused on Lea, fearful of her reaction.

"Lea..." His voice was low and careful as he took a slow step closer to her. Zero looked her over and was surprised to see a bruise already forming on her arm where he'd grabbed her too hard.

Lea shied away from him, her own instincts yelling at her to get away from him, as silent tears slowly crawled their way down her cheeks. "N-no.." she stammered.

Another careful step forward and Zero was almost in front of her. "Lea, I'm sorry."

She gasped a sob and quickly pulled away. "No!" Now she was 5 feet away and wiping at the tears that still insisted on falling. Her voice was low broken. "I get it. I'm sorry." Her eyes flicked to his bag. "Just burn it okay? It doesn't matter..."

And with that she turned and ran.

Barely a second passed and Zero was running after her.

* * *

Tears stung in Lea's eyes, blurring her vision as she ran. Her arm throbbed and her hip and side stung from when she hit the wall. Her breath came in short gasps as she pushed herself faster, trying to get as far from Zero as possible.

Lea turned a corner, nearly losing her footing, and had just started descending the stairs when Zero caught up with her. His arm was strong as it wrapped around her waist and she could feel his muscles strain to be gentle with her as he held her back.

"Lea, please! Just listen-" There was something in his voice that Lea couldn't quite understand. There was anger and she thought she heard sadness but Lea couldn't be sure.

She managed to twist herself around to face him, her face set in an angry/defiant pout. "Don't waste your breath, Zero!" She snapped. Perhaps if she was mean it would hurt less; Perhaps then it would be easier to stay away; stay whole. "I get it. Don't worry, I'll stop bothering you." However her voice went from angry to miserable. How can she? She cared too much to stay mad at him.

"I don't-"

She shook her head, cutting him off silently. Tears were in her eyes again and Lea knew that if she stayed there, locked in his arms, that her knees would give out. She couldn't let him see her so weak and defeated.

With a surge of the last of her energy Lea shoved Zero away as hard as she possibly could and turned to keep running.

Zero wasn't having that. He'd rather be damned -if he wasn't already- than let her go now. Zero took a step back to absorb the force of Lea's shove and then quickly surged forward, grabbing Lea's hips to try and pull her back; unfortunately Zero didn't take into account Lea's clumsiness and rotten luck.

It was easy for Zero to forget that Leas wasn't the most balanced person, having seen her do gymnastic-style morning stretches. Zero had watched her bend almost completely backwards and do a series of slow flips just to work out the kinks in her joints. She'd nearly broken Aido's nose when he's walked too close. In reality, Lea had a tendency to trip over her own two feet and walk straight into doors. Not exactly as graceful as Zero thought. As to the rotten luck, well, something had to be working against her to cause her to end up living amongst a bunch of fecking vampires, right?

When Zero had grabbed Lea she had jerked away from him, taking a step into the air. She fell backwards, landing on her back, the air gone from her lungs, and ended up rolling and bumping her way downstairs like a stray tumbleweed.

More tears, from the pain more than anything else, slipped from her eyes as Lea lay gasping for breath at the bottom of the stairs. Before the room finished spinning Lea had forced herself to her feet and continued her mad dash from Zero.

* * *

He wasn't sure how long he stood there, but to Zero it felt like eternity. How had this happened? Was it really only just last night when Lea had dyed his hair? Only this morning when he'd playfully taken her sketchbook? The sketchbook he was now supposed to burn. Zero's head hung. _What am I supposed to do now?_

* * *

Lea was still crying silently as she burst into the Moon Dorm. Too exhausted to climb the stairs to get to her room she flopped lifelessly and face first onto the couch.

_I'm an idiot. _She thought morosely. _I should have known Zero'd get tired of me always hanging around him. Should've known he'd finally give into his irritation and just toss me aside. _She winced as her ribs throbbed painfully, bruised from their battering. _Although I didn't think that he'd actually physicallythrowme!_

She lay there for who-knows-how-long, soaked in her tears and wallowing in depression. She probably would have never moved again if Isabel hadn't come downstairs. "Who's bleeding?"

Apparently Lea was even more worse for wear than she'd thought. She looked over her arms and muttered to herself. "Must've been cracks in the stairs or something..." There were small cuts and scrapes all over her arms.

Isabel rolled her eyes and started to clean Lea up. "So you fell down the stairs again?"

Lea nodded. "Yeah."

"Skipped a few classes?"

Another nod.

"What happened?"

Lea lowered her eyes. "I... I just fell and I didn't feel too good so I came back here."

Isabel was suspicious. "And cried for thirty minutes?"

Lea sighed. "I'd really rather not talk about it."

Isabel's face hardened. "Did Zero do something?"

Lea closed her eyes and and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Iz, I mean it. Nothing that I didn't expect happened and it's no big deal. I'll be fine, I just really don't want to talk about it."

Isabel know that something had happened but she could also see that Lea was moments away from crying yet again so she dropped it. For now.

"Fine."

"Thanks, Iz." Lea gave her a watery smile and slowly got off the couch. "Goodnight Iz."

"Night." Isabel watched as Lea as she made her slow way upstairs. Lea was obviously in a lot of some kind of pain; Isabel could tell by the small winces that Lea probably thought that nobody could notice. Isabel shifted in her chair, making sure that she was comfortable for however long she had to wait for Zero to come back- Even if he didn't, Isabel would still hunt him down. There was no way he was getting out of this interrogation.


	3. Chapter 3

******I still do not own Vampire Knight or any of it's characters, I only claim Lea and the plot. Isabel is my BFF's OC and she has given me permission to control her character for this story for all of your enjoyment.**

* * *

Chapter 3

Zero knew that Isabel would be waiting for him; there was no way that she'd be oblivious to her best friend running into the Moon Dorm crying her eyes out. That was a conversation Zero didn't mind being late for. However he didn't mean to avoid it all night, he'd just lost track of time. After all, he'd had a lot to think about: Lea's drawings, always upsetting Lea, why Lea wouldn't let him explain; Basically, Lea. Zero couldn't get her sad expression out of his head. Lea, who was normally so playful and sweet, his personified definition of 'friendly fire' (kind and playful but passionate and not unable to fight when necessary). What had she been thinking when she promised to leave him alone? Did she think that he thought that she was irritating? Why? Couldn't she tell that he was hopelessly in love with the small redhead?

Yes, 'd finally admitted it. He really couldn't deny it anymore. Sure, he could easily confess to being interested in her but this? This was a whole new level.

* * *

"Took you long enough!" snapped Isabel when Zero finally returned to the dorm.

Zero checked the clock on the wall in the lobby. It was well past time for the Night Class's second hour class to start. "Skipping?"

"That's hardlythe problem here." Her voice was hard and her eyes glared poison daggers at him. As Zero walked warily closer to Isabel he could feel the air becoming charged with energy.

_ Great._Zero thought sourly. _Looks like 'Stormy' is ready to turn me into an electric eel._He stepped forward a bit more, hands raised in the universal sign for 'I come in peace, no need to fight.' or, in this instance the evermore appropriate, 'Dammit Isabel, I'm not gonna shoot you so calm the fuck down!'

"What happened?!" Isabel all but snarled at Zero, her teeth bared and fingers crackling with electricity.

Zero stopped moving and kept his hands raised as he tried to explain. "Well, I may have, probably, upset Lea again."

"No shit, Sherlock." Isabel's glower didn't lessen. But then it didn't increase either. Possible good sign? A small spark his Zero's gun-chain and shocked his stomach. No, he didn't think so.

"What happened?" Isabel repeated. Another shock hit Zero's shoulder. Better hurry up.

"She grabbed me from behind, probably trying to get her sketchbook back." Zero started to explain.

"You took her sketchbook?!"

Zero glared slightly. "You're the one who said I should take a look."

"Well yeah, but not steal it!"

"Borrowed. Besides she wouldn't let me see. Now do you want me to explain or not?" Since Isabel had gotten him started, Zero really wanted to get this over with; he had a few questions of his own.

"Continue." Isabel kept her face as neutral as possible but almost anyone could see how curious she was. "Lea was trying to get her sketchbook back."

"Yes. Well, I'd been busy thinking and wasn't really paying attention, so I was sorta on autopilot. So... well... my instincts reacted before I could think and acted as if I were under attack..." By now Zero was staring at the floor, ashamed -perhaps for the first time- that he was raised by vampire hunters. If he'd been normal, lived as a normal human boy, perhaps then he wouldn't have hurt Lea.

Isabel's eyes were wide. "You attacked her." Her breath was soft, as if saying it aloud could make the situation even worse.

Zero spoke quickly, trying to explain. "I didn't mean it! I told you, I hadn't been paying attention. You know I'd never intentionally hurt Lea!" He took a deep breath to try to calm down. "And it shouldn't have been so bad; shouldn't have hurt her so much. I twisted out of her grip and then..." Another breath. When he spoke again Zero's voice was low and almost hoarse. "I threw her off. Pushed her into a wall. I... I saw a bruise already forming on her arm where I grabbed her too tight..." He squeezed his eyes shut to avoid Isabel's shocked and aghast expression, only to see Lea's sad and accusatory eyes behind his. Zero's voice was agonized as he continued further. "And to make matters worse, when I chased after her when she ran, held her to stop her from running so I could explain..." His voice broke and Zero had to clear his throat before he could speak again. "I all but threw her down the stairs, Isabel. I lost my hold on her and she fell; I couldn't move fast enough to catch her; could only watch as she got hurt even more, all because of me!"

"This is even worse than I'd thought." murmured Isabel, thinking. "I almost wish you'd only said something wrong." She looked at Zero. "She promised to leave you alone, didn't she?"

"Yeah." He shook his head sadly. "I've been trying to make sense of that. I've never not wanted her around so what makes her think that I'd push her away now?" Zero's eyes hardened and he spoke sharply to Isabel. "This has something to do with what you won't tell me, doesn't it?"

Isabel worried her lip with her teeth, contemplating. "It really isn't something I should tell you, but considering the circumstances I may have to." She shook her head. "We'll see if you can't figure it out first. You asked why she thinks you'd push her away, right?" Zero nodded. "Remember what I said earlier about the English project?"

"I upset her because apparently I barely spoke to her."

"Yes. And, to branch off, that, because you didn't talk to her, she thought you were pushing her away."

Zero's jaw dropped slightly.

Isabel continued, hoping that Zero was starting to piece it all together. "Basically, every time you upset her was a time that she thought you were pushing her away, to some degree." Isabel hesitated, lip between her teeth again.

Zero's eyes were dead from shock and his voice was almost as lifeless. "Is there more?"

"She... Lea once told me that it was her pure selfishness and greediness for you-'re company that made her keep trying. She said that she was certain that she was always an... irritation to you." A sad look came into Isabel's eyes. "Lea..."

"Yes?" Even Zero's voice was dead. He felt so numb, trying to keep himself from the realization that he was slowly working towards.

"Lea said you'd have to physically push her away before she stopped."

Zero sank on to a chair across from Isabel, still staring in disbelief at the floor. "And so now," he said slowly. "Lea truly believes that I don't want her around." He looked up at Isabel, yes tortured and pleading. "What am I supposed to do?!"

Isabel was a little more than surprised; Zero was normally so guarded and difficult to get to. Now it seemed that all the barriers were down.

She spoke carefully, unsure of how to continue. "Just be careful and try to give Lea some space. Don't force yourself on her, okay? I need some time to think this through."

Zero nodded, stood, and headed for the door.

"Where're you going?" asked Isabel, curious.

"I'm going to start my rounds early. Lea dropped a beaker and cut her hand in Chemistry today and if I can't keep her close and safe then God dammit if I'm not going to keep her as safe as possible from a distance."

Isabel smiled and lightly skipped upstairs, sing-songing "Doomed." as she left.

* * *

Isabel didn't know what to do. She was sure that this wasn't a unique hole that Zero and Lea were stuck in but it was a rare and deep one with a lot of loose stones and bad footholds. There was a way out but Isabel wasn't seeing it. She needed help, but Takuma had some business thing to go to with Kaname for the weekend and so she couldn't help. Kain didn't know Lea enough to help, but he did wish them luck; fat lot of good that was. Isabel needed a charming romantic, someone who could understand -to some degree- how a girl could react to certain circumstances.

She groaned aloud. _Of all people, why __him?_She sighed and decided to wait to talk to him during English: they were reviewing _Pride and Prejudice_and since Isabel had already memorized that story by the 9th grade, she didn't have to worry about slacking off a bit during class.

Once Isabel sat down in English class she immediately started drumming her fingers, impatiently waiting for Hanabusa. Impatiently and nervously, even though Isabel wasn't quite sure why she was nervous.

After two, hour-long minutes he finally walked in and Isabel's face warmed, her brain reminding her of his towel parade from earlier.

Positive that her cheeks were pink, Isabel watched Aido take his seat next to her. Before he had the chance to read the notes on the board Isabel tossed a note on his desk: '_I need some help.'_

A wry smile flickered on Aido's face as he wrote his reply. '_Boy trouble? :P'_'

Isabel smiled. '_Not in the way you think. How do you feel about playing Matchmaker?'_'

'_For Zero and his conditioner-contaminating girlfriend?'_

Isabel frowned now; she'd forgotten that Aido was still mad about the whole hair-dye prank.

'_2 things,_' She wrote. '_firstly, if she was his girlfriend we wouldn't have to play Matchmaker. Second, Lea said that it would come out in a few days. Zero's still going to have black hair next week, though._'

'_True, but that doesn't mean that I want to help._'

'_Please?! *puppy-dog eyes*_' She turned said wide, pleading eyes on Aido with full force, mouth pouting slightly.

'_Oh no! Not __The Eyes!__!_' Aido discreetly held up a hand, pretending to shield his face. This made Isabel giggle.

"Hanabusa! Isabella!" The teacher called out, getting Isabel's name wrong for the 50th time that year. "Could you explain what Elizabeth was talking about in paragraph three?"

Aido started flipping through his book. "What page, Mrs. Morgan?"

She stern-faced. "If you were paying attention then you would know." she turned to another student. "Ruka?"

Ruka eagerly answered, slightly smug at one-upping Aido for once.

Isabel waited a few minutes before sliding the paper back to Aido. '_So you'll help? Or do I need to use The Eyes again?_'

Aido rolled his eyes. '_Fine, I'll help. What's the situation?_'

Isabel frowned slightly as she responded. '_Zero accidentally threw Lea into a wall - instinctual defensive response to her grabbing him from behind - and then they argued and then Lea fell down the stairs trying to get away from him. Now she's __certain __that Zero's nothing but irritated at her. She's pretty much all but barricaded herself into our room so that she doesn't have to "deal with humans" as she puts it._'

Aido slowly read the note, eyes widening in surprise. '_So first we have to get her out of her room?_'

Isabel flipped the paper over, forehead creased with the intensity of her thoughts. Aido snickered and reached over to write '_don't set yourself on fire!'_making Isabel smile.

'_I'll do my best =P And Lea promised that she'd help me make a sweets basket to send to my mother for her birthday so it shouldn't be __too__difficult to get Lea out of her/our room.'_

'_Sweets basket?'_

'_That's beside the point.'_

'_Alright, so she's out of her room. Now what?'_

'_That's where Zero comes in.'_

'_Duh.' _Aido rolled his eyes. '_But what's he supposed to __do__?'_

'_Well if I knew that then I wouldn't be talking to you, would I?' _Isabel paused. and then added. '_You're the one that knows how guys think.'_

'_Do I?'_

'_Well, unless you're lying to everyone about your gender...'_

'_Point taken.'_

At that point the bell rang to dismiss that class. As Isabel gathered her things she spoke to Aido. "So what should Zero do?"

Aido thought, lips slightly puckered. He spoke slowly. "Perhaps he could walk in while you and Lea are working in the kitchen and offer to help? Then... well he'd have to tread carefully so Lea can adjust to him being there and then gradually work himself into any conversations. Then you" he turned to look at Isabel who had her books clutched to her chest, eyes wide while she intensely listened as she followed him to Chem class. "You'll have to find an excuse to leave, repeatedly if necessary, so that they can have some alone time."

Isabel looked a bit skeptical. "Are you sure it's a good idea for them to be alone?"

Aido raised a suggestive eyebrow. "You think they'll... start something?" He smirked.

Isabel smacked his arm. "No! I mean shouldn't someone be a sort of... mediator or something?"

Aido's head tilted as he reconsidered. "Maybe. It sounds like, from what you'd described earlier, all Lea really needs is to stop and listen." He shook his head, smiling slightly. "I'm surprised she can confuse signals so thoroughly. It's almost painfully obvious that Zero's obsessed with the girl, yet she thinks that he's pushing her away."

"Well, he kind of is." Isabel said unexpectedly.

"That doesn't make sense; I thought he liked her. That's why we're doing this, isn't it?!"

"Yes." Isabel said carefully. "And Lea is definitely crazy about Zero, but the thing is that Zero... well, he doesn't think that he's good enough for her."

"You've lost me."

By this point they had stopped at Isabel's locker and she was hurriedly digging around inside of it while she thought over how she wanted to explain. She remembered Lea once made an unexpected comparison and tried to reiterate it. Minus the overly-tired giggles.

"It's all rather Twilight during the early chapters; Lea is the already-curious, obsessed and balance-challenged human and Zero is the angsty vampire." She paused, surprised. "That analogy is a bit too spot-on." She noted uneasily and then continued. "Anyway, Lea's all caught up in Zero's personality and overall "Zero-ness" to see why Zero thinks and-slash-or knows he's dangerous. Meanwhile Zero's agonizing over how he's no good for someone as 'pure' and 'good' as Lea."

"'Pure and good'?" Aido interrupted.

"As in childish-slash-young-spirited and kind."

"Young spirited indeed." Aido smiled, picking fun.

"Do you want me to explain or not?" Aido shut up. "Anyway, Zero doesn't want her to 'waste her life' with him." Isabel loudly shut her locker. "And that's that." Aido raised his hand. "Yes?"

"Was all that a book plot or a comparison?"

"Both."

Aido shook his head. "They're both so doomed."

Isabel smiled. "That's what I've been telling them."

They entered the Chem lab just as the bell rang to begin class. The sub gave them an irritated glare but didn't mark them late.

As Aido and Isabel took their seats the sub stood and announces "Alright, your teacher is on sick leave and I've been here since the beginning of the Day Class so keep silent and work alone on your lab." And with that he sat back down and everyone started their labs as silently as possible.

Isabel quickly finished - science was her thing - and scribbled a note to pass to Aido once he finished.

'_I've got a feeling that Zero's going to end up asking either one or both of us what to do for his first date with Lea.'_

Aido snickered quietly. _'Should we suggest something cheesy or original for their first? Are you sure that __Lea__ won't be in charge of the dates?'_

_'She probably will after a while but isn't it sort of an unspoken rule that the __guy__ is in charge of the first date?'_

_ 'I would have thought that the __asker__ was in charge.'_

_ 'In this case, isn't that the same thing?'_

_ 'Touche. But back to the matter at hand: Cheesy or original?'_

Isabel swapped out the scribbled-over paper for a fresh sheet. _'What about dinner+movie?'_

_ 'Possibility. What about just dinner?'_

_ 'Large chance for~'_

Before Isabel could finish writing the sub snuck up and snatched the note from under the pen.

"I love a good joke so I thought that I'd come take a look at what's so funny." He said flippantly as he read the note. After he finished he smirked and placed the note back on Isabel's desk. "As much as I'd love to write you both up for class disruptions..."

_Even though we weren't really __doing__ anything._ Thought Isabel sourly. The most sound either of them had made was a quiet chuckle.

The sub kept talking. "... I hope you two have a good time on your date." He clapped a hand on Aido's shoulder. "A new revision of When in Rome just came out; my wife said it was good." And with that he almost-sauntered back to his desk.

Isabel's face turned bright red. She wanted to refuse, to stand up and cry out "It's not what you think! You've got it wrong!" But she didn't. The small part of her brain that was denying all claims was quickly overrun by the larger part that contained her imagination. This part of her mind had her sliding down low in her chair and her face continually red by showing her quick images of Aido: Aido in a suit, Aido taking her out to dinner, Aido leading her in a ballroom dance. And then an image from the other day: Aido running down the stairs, dripping wet and only wearing a towel.

Blood started to slowly drip down from Isabel's nose as she quickly got up and ran out to the bathroom before anyone could comment. She threw herself at the sink and tried to take a few deep breaths to calm the almost-hysteria/panic attack that had crept up on carefully moved so she was sitting on the floor, back against the wall and tissue up her nose. Still breathing deeply, she leaned her head back and tried to clear her mind. One thought wouldn't go away: _Doomed. You're __so__ doomed._

* * *

Aido smiled slightly as he watched Isabel bolt out the door. He calmly flipped to a new page in his notebook and wrote one sentence: _'Note to self; Ask Izzy out.'_


	4. Chapter 4

**MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAA! Two chapters within the same week! (I think...) Anyway, Vampire Knight and it's characters aren't mine, i just like to bend them to my will. 3:)**

**ENJOY CHAPTER 4!**

* * *

Lea sat curled up on her bed, her legs drawn up to her chest, eyes blankly staring at the wall, completely exhausted. By now, three or four days after what happened with Zero, Lea had pretty much given up on sleeping; every time she fell asleep her dreams either forced her to relive the scene – being thrown against the wall, the argument on the stairs, falling down the stairs – or, even worse, just running through the school halls. Running from and running to Zero.

Two different Zeros: One, black-eyed and hate-filled, chased Lea down the hallways. He was always snarling and growling and occasionally he'd yell Lea's fears at her. "You're nothing but an IRRITATING little FLEA!" "All you EVER do is make my life DIFFICULT!" "Why would I WANT to spend my time with YOU!?" And the worst of them all, "I HATE YOU!"

The other Zero was the one that Lea was trying to find again; He'd appear at the very beginning, laughing and holding her hand. But then, eventually, he would disappear around a corner or into a classroom. Sometimes Lea would only have to blink and then suddenly he'd be gone, instead, standing before her was the black, hating Zero would be in his place and the chase would begin...

Lea shuddered and mentally pulled herself away from the dark thoughts. She glanced at the clock, five in the morning. Lea's stomach growled and she carefully unfolded herself from her stiff position and started to quietly make her way downstairs. It hadn't taken her very long to figure out the rough schedule the the Night Class followed for food and such, as well as when Zero normally returned from his rounds and went to bed. By now Zero should be asleep for another 2 hours or so and the Night Class students were either in the library still doing homework or were in bed. This way Lea had time to go down to the dorm kitchen for food.

Quietly, quietly Lea opened the room door, trying to not wake up Isabel, and started creeping down the hallway.

While it was true that Lea was avoiding Zero, she found it easier to just avoid everyone than just one person and while Lea knew that her doing this made Isabel a bit more than a little upset with her, she also knew that this was the best way – that she could think of – to give herself time to heal.

Lea leaned against the kitchen counter and munched on cereal bars, fruit and a large protein shake, trying to be quick. Briefly Lea considered slipping into the library for some books but, since she'd taken longer than she meant to eating, discarded the idea.

Suddenly her head shot up and swiveled to look at the kitchen entrance. Before anyone could say "Sup, Ging?" Lea quickly scurried over to where some of the cupboards jutted out from the others and curled her small frame into a ball.

"Leanna?" A tired voice groaned. "S'that you?"

Lea cautiously peeked around the corner and relaxed. "Isabel. Sorry, I thought that..." she trailed off as she stood up. She cleared her throat. "Sorry if I woke you up earlier." She grimaced and then stuck her tongue out at her. "I tried to trip over your books quietly."

Isabel pouted. "It's not my fault that my bookshelf caught fire after Kain visited!"

"No, but you haven't exactly tried to get a new bookcase, have you?"

Isabel couldn't fight that logic so, rather than try to argue her point, she went for the puppy-dog eyes. "Food?"

"Second cupboard next to the fridge." Lea smiled and rolled her eyes as Isabel uncovered her not-so-secret stash of Cheeze-Its with a quiet but happy "Nya!"

The two friends settled down on the barstools that lined one side of the island in the kitchen – Isabel gleefully munching on her 'cheesy goodness' and Lea drowsily rested her head on her arms but did not try to sleep, rather she tried to see past the hate-filled Zero that filled her vision. She'd long since given up on not seeing him.

Isabel watched as the redhead blinked rapidly and sighed. She'd seen Lea do this multiple times and she still had no idea why since Lea could never bring herself to explain and Isabel had no way of guessing. Isabel tried to speak quietly so she didn't startle her small friend. "You look like hell, Lea."

Lea jumped slightly, startled anyway, and then rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks for the ego boost, Izzy." She elbowed the brunette weakly and Isabel couldn't be sure if she just didn't want to rib her too hard or if she just didn't have the energy to spare for a better effort. Isabel was scared that the second option was the truth but kept her face calm. "I mean it, Lea; when was the last time you got a decent amount of sleep?"

Lea shrugged. "Probably not since we moved here. Maybe I'm turning into a half-vampire, being around all you leeches" another weak, but playful, nudge. "is slowly acclimating me." Lea half-smiled and the bad attempt at a joke but slipped back into a grimace when she looked away. She knew that Isabel was right and that she really did look like hell – sunken, bruised and tired eyes, pale and sick-looking skin and, Lea hated to admit it, she had probably lost a good pound or two. She sighed. _'I'm more like a zombie than a vampire.'_

Isabel bit her lip. "What if you just talked to him?" She hesitated before continuing – she knew better than to talk about him with Lea and was breaking a few unspoken rules but she had to open the idea to Lea if The Plan was going to work.

Lea glared but Isabel spoke again before she could argue. "Or at least listen to him? I know that Zero's sorry that he hurt you and -"

"Stop!" Lea commanded, her hand raised as if she was guiding traffic. "Iz, there's really nothing to say. I told you before what it would take for me to back off of Zero and, guess what! It happened." Lea's voice became angry and her expression was dark.

"But Lea!" Isabel argued. "You know how Zero is, better than even Yuki I'd wager. You know that he'd rather cut off his finger than to see you hurt, let alone hurt you himself."

"Fine!" Lea spat. "I accept the apology that will never come! Happy now!" Lea balled her fists in an effort to keep her hands from shaking.

A sad smile. "I'd be happier id you'd go talk to Zero."

"And say _what_!?" Lea's voice climbed an octave and she could feel herself losing control. Could feel it, but could do nothing about it. "I should just go up to him and throw what's left of my heart at his feet, is that what you want me to do?! Get down on my knees and tell him that I've been stuck on him since we met ten months ago!? Give him every chance possible to break me further?!"

Angry tears fell from Lea's eyes and she suddenly found herself standing, the barstool laying on its side on the floor. Fists clenched and shaking, Lea tried to catch her breath. "It's safer this way. If Z-Zero hasn't gone through the sketchbook then he's only lost an irritating hobbit." Isabel smiled slightly at that; Lea loved Lord of the Rings and had often described herself as a hobbit. "-If he has, then he doesn't have to deal with an irritating girl following him around like a lost puppy."

Lea nodded, pleased with her little speech, then righted her stool, huffing a sigh as she sat down. A long pause followed as Isabel tried to construct a new argument.

"How do you know for certain that Zero doesn't want you around? Seriously?"

Lea raised an eyebrow.

"I mean it!" Isabel insisted. "I can't see why you so easily believe that Zero doesn't want you around."  
"Well... I guess it was sort of a subtext thing." Lea bit her lip as she tried to think about it objectively so her heart wouldn't scream at her in pain. "He always seemed like he wanted to get away whenever I was talking to him and nine-point-five times out of ten he got irritated whenever we talked, no matter what it was about." Lea continued to gnaw on her lower lip.

"Point-five?" Now it was Isabel's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"The, ah, last time we spoke it was as if he was a different Zero; more careful but happier at the same time." Lea sighed wistfully. "If it hadn't happened, I would have guessed that he'd been flirting."

"What if he had been?" Isabel challenged. "What if it had been a complete accident?"

Lea glared. "People don't accidentally throw others across halls and into walls!" Her voice was a dangerous hiss and, if she hadn't known better, Isabel would have thought her to actually be a vampire.

"This is Zero we're talking about, and he is a vampire. He does misjudge his strength sometimes."

"That doesn't mean-!"

"And!" Isabel cut her off. "He was raised by vampire hunters. Hunters who taught him hardly any mercy and who showed him how to always focus on staying alive."

More lip biting. "But I'm not a vampire. Surely I smell different or something, right?"

"Imagine you had Zero's instincts – the instincts of a hunter – and you were suddenly grabbed from behind while you were distracted. What would you do?"

"I would get out of their grip and then judge whether I or anyone else were in danger."

"Ah, but you're figuring in that you were the attacker. What if Zero didn't know that?"

"He would have known that I was trying to get my book back."

"He's distracted, remember? Say he'd been looking through your sketchbook and was busy pondering why he was the main feature.

"Taking all those factors into account, what would you do?"

Lea looked down at her hands and reluctantly admitted defeat. "If I had Zero's strength and ability, then I probably would have done the same thing or something similar to he did." She sat still, practically frozen on her seat, as that sunk in. Her hands flew to her mouth. "Holy TARDIS of Gallifrey!" She nearly shouted her strange exclamation.

Flustered, Lea tried to hop down from the barstool but she seemed to have forgotten how to properly move. Instead of quickly jumping to her feet she ended up leaning on the counter, one foot caught on a stool-leg.

"I– ! I've got to- ! Zero!" Lea couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence as she freed her foot. She started to hurry to the kitchen doors, only to be stopped by Isabel.

"Wait!" She stood in front of Lea, hands firm on her shoulders. "It's barely six in the morning; Zero probably got in from his rounds three hours ago and probably has only gotten an hour of sleep after finishing his homework at four in the morning. Let's let him sleep as much as possible so he's coherent when you start bombarding him, okay?"

Lea nodded as she bounced from foot to foot, too keyed up to properly relax enough to calm down.

Isabel smiled, it was good to see Lea back to her previous energy levels. "Why don't you go clean yourself up?" Isabel suggested. "It's Saturday so Zero's not going to wake up until it's closer to ten. When you're done though, could we maybe work on Mama's sweets basket?" Isabel reactivated her puppy-dog eyes.

Lea laughed. "Sure." She playfully pretended to kiss Isabel's cheek before bouncing back to their room. "Thanks Iz!"

Isabel smiled again and shook her head. She knew that Zero would have agreed to waking up early if that meant that Lea was going to talk to him again but Isabel had a feeling that Zero would thank her for this.

Aido might be mad, though, since she'd deviated from The Plan and that he's not awake to see everything unfold. _Oh well. _She thought. _Sucks to be you, Hanabusa._ She giggled. _Literally._

It was almost a full hour later when Lea came back to the kitchen and Isabel could tell that she'd most likely been doing her makeup and picking her outfit for most of that time. Isabel was always impressed at how Lea managed to somehow look as if she'd dressed in a hurry and as if she'd spent 3 hours in her closet: her skinny jeans, long sweater-vest and long-sleeve tee looked freshly laundered and preplanned while the messy bun and combat boots looked like a split-second decision. But what surprised Isabel was that Lea had swapped her usual choker-necklace for a short chain and metal pendant.

"Cute." Isabel commented and then nodded at the necklace. "Is that new?"

Lea blushed and covered the pendant with a hand, both holding it close and hiding it from view. "Well, you know how Aiden and Eugene expect a letter or a call every week or so..."

Isabel nodded, remembering the lecture those two had given Lea when she left. Protective brothers, everyone's got one.

"Well on one of the letters I sent them I had accidentally started doodling Zero's tattoo, so Aiden talked to one of his friends whose mother runs a custom-jewelry shop and he faxed over the design." As she spoke Lea unclasped the necklace and passed it to Isabel. "This came in the mail at around Christmas time, but I hadn't had the chance to wear it."

"Wow." Isabel held the square of silver close, angling it so the engraving showed clearly. "Real silver?"

"As far as I can tell, yeah."

Isabel whistled. "Since when do they have enough money to spare for something like this?"

"I know, right? Something like this would have cost them around fifty pounds. That's not very cheap for college bums."

"What's that in English?"

Lea smirked. "I think you mean American, pounds are English." She laughed. "Roughly seventy-five American dollars."

"Not cheap at all."

Lea laughed again, re-clasped the necklace, and grabbed an apron. "Shall we get started then?"

"Yes!"

For the next 2 hours or so Lea instructed Isabel on how to make assorted muffins, assisted in making cinnamon bread and made several dozen cookies in flavors from Chunky chocolate chip to raspberry jam.

As 10 o'clock got nearer Lea left Isabel with oven duty and started making waffles and sausages.

"Feeling hungry again?" Isabel asked, a mischievous smile in place.

"Something like that." Lea responded shyly, giving Isabel an innocent look that made the brunette groan.

"Don't tell me that you've already one-eightied."

Lea blinked at her. "I don't know what you mean."

"Lea, don't you play dumb. You know exactly what I mean."

"Do I look like a blond to you, Iz?" Lea asked sarcastically as she stacked waffles on to two plates.

"No, but-"

"Who's cooking and what's it going to take for me to get some of it?" Zero entered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Lea immediately smiled. "I made waffles, how many would you like?"

Zero froze, his gaze centered on Lea. For a brief moment pure shock took over his expression before he regained control and continued his way over to take a seat. "Three please. Thanks, Lea." He smiled hesitantly.

Lea's returning smile was radiant as she quickly stacked and prepared the waffles the way her brothers always did on her birthday: whip cream in between each waffle and 2 spoons of apple and pear pie filling on top. She set one of the heaping plates in front of Zero and grabbed them both a glass of milk, pouring chocolate sauce in hers.

Several quiet but companionable moments passed as Lea and Zero ate and Isabel, watching from the other side of the counter, smiled to herself. It looked as if Lea was back to her happy, besotted self: she kept bouncing in her seat and smiling for no see-able reason. Isabel giggled as she watched Zero reach out and place his hand firmly on top of Lea's head in an attempt to make her stop bouncing."

"No more sugar for you if this is how you're going to react." Zero threatened even though he was smiling.

Lea grinned and angled her bounce so that she bumped against Zero's shoulder. "C'mon, Z! Don't be a spoil-sport!" Zero rolled his eyes but didn't try to stop Lea's bouncing.

Isabel caught Zero's eye and raised an eyebrow at him, as if to ask _You gonna talk to her or what?!_

Zero grimaced slightly and spoke quietly in Lea's ear. Lea's eyes widened slightly but she nodded and stood. "'Scuse me for a mo," she said. "I've got to use the little baker's room."

Once the door swung shut behind Lea, Isabel glared at Zero who put his hands up in defense. "What did I do this time?"

"How about what haven't you done?" Isabel snapped.

"Okay, what haven't I done, then?" Zero said carefully, having already guessed what had Isabel's feathers all ruffled. _I was hoping we could skip this._ He thought, mentally sighing wistfully.

Isabel growled quietly, her teeth bared. "So what then? Are you planning to act as if the past three days hadn't happened, is that it?! Going to pretend that Lea never locked herself in our room so she didn't run into you?! That she never woke up screaming because of nightmares that scared her so much she couldn't even tell me about?! That she didn't look terrified when you asked her to leave?!" She paused to gulp down some air so she could continue yelling at Zero.

"I didn't tell her anything!" Zero snapped before Isabel could resume. "I asked her if you and I could have a few moments to step out and talk; she's the one who left!" He lowered his half-raised hands.

Isabel took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm back down. "Are you going to talk to her or not?"

Zero groaned slightly and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know, alright?" He looked up at her. "In case you forgot, I'm kind of shit with emotions, Isabel; it's not like I know what I'm doing!" Zero looked down at his hands. "She looks so happy again; so much like her old self. I don't want to upset her again by bringing up what happened."

Isabel gave him a stern look. "If you don't she'll-" At that moment Lea returned, bouncing into the room.

"I'm ba~ack! D'ja miss me?" She grinned.

Zero gave a forced smile. "Every second was utter agony."

Lea giggled and nearly skipped over to her seat next to him, swinging her legs up as she sat so her feet were braced against Zero's thigh. "Good." She looked at Isabel and saw the small crease between her eyebrows that was always there when she was worrying. Lea gave her a calm smile. "Chill Izzy, what are you worrying about? I'm sure your mom's gonna love the goodies basket."

"Huh?" replied Isabel, distracted. "Yeah, I'm sure you're right. I'm just thinking is all."

"Okay. Try not to give yourself a headache." Lea advised. She glanced at the clock. "Oh! It's already noon!" She pointed at Isabel. "Bedtime for the vampire. Go on, I'll box and mail the sweets."

Isabel frowned, first at Lea then at Zero. "No, I'm fine. 'Sides, 'tis not proper to leave a couple alone." She teased, sticking her tongue out at Lea who had turned bright red.

"We're not a couple! Now go to bed!" She ordered, not looking at Zero.

Isabel raised an eyebrow at Zero.

"Go get some sleep, Isabel. I don't want and angry, orange Aido on my case when you fall asleep during class."

"Fine." Isabel stuck her tongue out at them again, hopped off of her counter perch and walked out.


End file.
